HoosierGuy Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 1 Nephi 4:1-7 Nephi slays Laban at the Lord’s command and then secures the plates of brass by stratagem—Zoram chooses to join Lehi’s family in the wilderness. Between 600 and 592 B.C. 1 And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands? 2 Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. 3 Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians. 4 Now when I had spoken these words, they were yet wroth, and did still continue to murmur; nevertheless they did follow me up until we came without the walls of Jerusalem. 5 And it was by night; and I caused that they should hide themselves without the walls. And after they had hid themselves, I, Nephi, crept into the city and went forth towards the house of Laban. 6 And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. 7 Nevertheless I went forth, and as I came near unto the house of Laban I beheld a man, and he had fallen to the earth before me, for he was drunken with wine.QUOTES FOR DISCUSSION The affair was a trial of faith. The Lord could easily have procured the record some other way, but he deliberately placed Nephi in a dilemma: obtain and safeguard the plates as commanded, or let Laban live. If Laban lived, the mission would fail. For even if the plates could be obtained by stratagem, Laban would certainly know who had taken them. And without the plates of brass, Lehi’s posterity would, like the later Mulekites, “perish in unbelief” (1 Nephi 4:13; Omni 1:17). Their history, if any, would have been far different. Above all, there would be no Book of Mormon as we know it. The “keystone of our religion” would be missing, and the Lord’s purposes frustrated, a thing he will not tolerate (D&C 3:1).Rodney Turner, The Prophet NephiMore than ever before, I understand what the ancient prophet Nephi felt when he had been given the seemingly insurmountable task by his father, Lehi, to gain possession of the brass plates….I must go on many occasions, as did Nephi of old, being “led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” Yes, though the night be dark, “I do not ask to see the distant scene—one step [is] enough for me.”Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, Apr. 1970, pp. 125-126Laban stole their wealth and tried to destroy them. Nephi’s brethren commenced to murmur again, and they took a rod and beat him with it. As they did so an angel of the Lord stood before them, and he commanded them to go up again, promising that God should deliver Laban into their hands. I call the attention of the young men and young ladies to this, for I have heard many of them say, “Oh, if I could only see an angel, I would believe and forever be faithful.” The seeing of an angel amounts to nothing, unless you are keeping the commandments of God. No sooner had the heavenly messenger departed than these elder brethren, who were lacking in faith and did not keep the commandments of God, commenced to murmur, and instead of having faith in the promises of the angel, they said unto Nephi, “How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty: then, why not us?” Did this discourage Nephi? Did he lack faith? No; he believed in the promises of the angel of God, and he said unto them, “Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold He is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?” They went up and were successful.Heber J. Grant, CR, Oct. 1900, 34I can testify to you that there will be none of you have any adventure greater, more thrilling, and more joyful than finding out how to interpret the Spirit which comes unto you bearing testimony of the truth. Young folks have to learn how, so do we older folks. We have to find out the technique by which the Spirit whispers in our hearts. We have to learn to hear it and to understand it and to know when we have it, and that sometimes takes a long time.But no matter what your age, you do not need to wait unto you are old to know….As [a child] grows and has that imprint upon him, he will have joy and satisfaction and peace and happiness beyond anything that can be described with words.So I would say to the young folks of the Church,…if you will ask, not doubting that you can have an answer, the answer will come in the whispering. Then you must learn to interpret the whispering. At first it likely will come as something akin to a feeling, although not a feeling. There will finally come into your minds the words expressive of the feeling, and those word properly interpreted will be the whispering of the Spirit.S. Dilworth Young, Conference Report, April 1959, p. 59-60Nephi was willing to try time and again, using his best efforts. He expressed faith that he would be helped. He refused to be discouraged. But because he acted, had confidence in the Lord, was obedient, and properly used his agency, he received guidance. He was inspired step after step to success, and in his mother’s words was “given…power [to] accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded” (1 Nephi 5:8).Nephi knew he was required to confide in God, to exercise faith, and to act so that he could receive help, step by step. He did not murmur nor ask for a full explanation. But, observe particularly, he did not wait passively for help. He acted! By following spiritual law, he was inspired and given power to act.Richard G. Scott, “Learning to Recognize Answers to Prayer,” Ensign, November, 1989, p. 32To prevent his commuting daily to Salt Lake City, the Packers decided to leave Lindon and relocate nearer Church headquarters. They hoped for a place where they could keep animals and birds and the children could continue to have the daily chores. Elder Packer also wanted to insulate them from the publicity of his position as a General Authority. Away from the city he could come home with no more fanfare than from work in any business office. Sister Packer’s Lindon experience had given her confidence, in his absence, to manage their nine children, a home, and a large piece of property.President Moyle had kindly assigned someone to help locate such a place. When it was found, the Packers fell in love with it. Elder Harold B. Lee looked over the house and property one day and counseled, “By all means, you are to proceed.”There was a problem, however. When they added up every asset they possessed, including a projected loan on their insurance, they could not see any way to get into the house.Still Brother Lee insisted, “Go ahead; I know it is right.”“I was in deep turmoil,” Elder Packer has written, ‘because I had been counseled to do something I had never done before—to sign a contract without the resources to meet the payments.”Sensing the turmoil, Brother Lee sent him to President David O. McKay, who listened very carefully, then said: “You do this. It is the right thing.” But he extended no resources to make it possible.Brother Packer recalled, “When I reported to Brother Lee he said, ‘That confirms what I have told you.’“I was still not at peace, and then came the lesson.“Elder Lee said, ‘Boyd, do you know what is wrong with you—you always want to see the end from the beginning.’“I replied quietly that I wanted to see at least a few steps ahead. He answered by quoting from the sixth verse of the twelfth chapter of Ether. ‘Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.’“And then he added, ‘My boy, you must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and perhaps a few steps into the darkness, and you will find that the light will appear and move ahead of you.’”For Elder Packer it was a great test of faith, but he moved ahead and step by step the way opened for him to acquire the property, move his family, make the payments, and begin to make it their home.Boyd K. Packer: A Watchman on the Tower, by Lucile C. Tate, pp. 137-138 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztodd Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 I think that would've been way tough to be in Nephi's shoes- to know that Father in Heaven wanted me to do something like that but having no idea how it would be accomplished. I could definitely stand to gain more of that kind of faith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justice Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 1 And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands? Nephi nails it here.How many times do we not turn to the Lord when we have a trial because we think it's 1) too small, 2) too big, 3) we can deal with it ourselves?Thinking God won't help us for whatever reason must be very disappointing to Him, after all the time and effort He has gone through to tell us to ask in all things.I can think of times in my past, even recent past, where I was concerned over something and thought maybe the Lord wants me to do this on my own because it's so small.Other times I have thought I don't have enough faith to ask the Lord to help resolve this problem because what would have to be done it too large.I hate to make a corny analogy, especially a movie analogy, but I think of it like this...In Empire Strike Back when Luke couldn't lift the ship out of the swamp, he said, "Rocks and stones are one thing... but this is totally different. It's too big."Yoda said, "No! It's only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned." Then he explains how the force flows from the rock, and the tree, and even between the land and the ship. Well, then it seems silly to think of it as too big if the land is being compared.I think we often do this. We forget how "big" the Lord is and that He created all things. There is a way for Him to help us if we beleive.We need to remember that nothing is too big for the Lord. He wiped out an entire army, the greatest army on earth at the time, without lifting a weapon. There is nothing an individual can't do if it is the Lord's will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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